Jelly Beans

On the chance there is a life beyond television, I pulled myself away from the blow-by-blow, bulletin-by-bulletin war coverage, to foray to the supermarket in search of a bag of jelly beans. No mischief was intended, I just wanted to limber some muscles, reconnoiter civilian life and snack on a comforting, familiar treat.To my surprise, ''jube jels'' had replaced jelly beans on the display-shelf spike. I asked the store manager about it. ''Jelly beans haven't been popular since Reagan. When the liberation of Kuwait started, we replaced 'em with jubes.

The Food and Drug Administration said yesterday it will look into how caffeine in foods and snacks affects children. What spurred this? The FDA didn't say directly, but many people are pointing to a new "Alert Energy" gum by Wrigley that contains caffeine. The addictive ingredient is also showing up in other places, such as trail mix and jelly beans. Health experts have been worried for a while now about the effects of caffeine-packed energy drinks on children and anyone who might have heart issues.

The Food and Drug Administration said yesterday it will look into how caffeine in foods and snacks affects children. What spurred this? The FDA didn't say directly, but many people are pointing to a new "Alert Energy" gum by Wrigley that contains caffeine. The addictive ingredient is also showing up in other places, such as trail mix and jelly beans. Health experts have been worried for a while now about the effects of caffeine-packed energy drinks on children and anyone who might have heart issues.

DELUXE: HOW LUXURY LOST ITS LUSTER Dana Thomas The Penguin Press/376 pages/$27.95 On very special occasions, my grandmother would telephone Plumbridge's on Manhattan's East 63rd Street to order jelly beans. They would arrive in their gorgeous little round packages, passed from gloved hand to gloved hand, like missives from another era. They were, quite simply, the best jelly beans money could buy. Their very presence in the front hall made me feel safe. These jelly beans, handmade using some ancient family recipe, could slow progress, fend off barbarians and weave a cocoon around life as I knew it. Tradition, craftsmanship, a feeling of well-being and, yes, price - all of these are associations with luxury.

A bag of jelly beans and a distinctive chocolate lollipop led to the arrest of two men and a juvenile late Monday in Westminster. They were accused of stealing the candy and other items from a vehicle parked in the Middle Brook development at the south end of town. The items were reported stolen about 10: 50 p.m. A witness told police that three youths entered the car, then left in a light-colored Chevrolet Cavalier. Some of the items were found along the road, including a purse and cosmetics.

"I really enjoyed 'The Jellybean Principal' by Catherine McMorrow. It is about three kids named Jim, Ellen and Judy and a principal who has a big bowl of jelly beans on his desk. In the story someone was stuck in the freezer and Jim, Ellen and Judy have to get him out. Who was in the freezer?"- Derek CooperLeith Walk Elementary"I like the book 'Meet Addy: An American Girl,' by Connie Porter because I learned a lot about the period of time when slavery was legal. Addy is afraid of getting separated from her family.

Sampling creamy, crunchy, luscious chocolates is all in a day's work for Bel Air business owners Patricia and Melinda Mosser.The sisters, partners in a new candy shop on Main Street called Nanna's Chocolates, taste test truffles, jellies, fruit creams, nut clusters and chewy caramels made by local chocolatiers before choosing the sweets that will fill their own cases."

THE ELTON JOHN of Castle Street remembers his Polish grandmother saving nickels to buy him $4.50 accordion lessons when he was in grade school. The kid was a natural, so good that Uncle Joe would tie the boy and his squeeze box to a kitchen chair to keep the music going. Thirty years later, the polka prodigy plays a half-dozen instruments, writes music the way other people jot down a grocery list, and is looking for the Bernie Taupin of Baltimore to put words to his music. All while working the counter at the A&A Candy & Tobacco Co. on South Broadway to support his young family and make ends meet.

DELUXE: HOW LUXURY LOST ITS LUSTER Dana Thomas The Penguin Press/376 pages/$27.95 On very special occasions, my grandmother would telephone Plumbridge's on Manhattan's East 63rd Street to order jelly beans. They would arrive in their gorgeous little round packages, passed from gloved hand to gloved hand, like missives from another era. They were, quite simply, the best jelly beans money could buy. Their very presence in the front hall made me feel safe. These jelly beans, handmade using some ancient family recipe, could slow progress, fend off barbarians and weave a cocoon around life as I knew it. Tradition, craftsmanship, a feeling of well-being and, yes, price - all of these are associations with luxury.

MORE THAN fruitcake or the Pound Puppies' barking Christmas carol, what I most hope we are spared this season is warring over how we celebrate our festivities in public settings.It is the rare winter solstice that passes without a tale of a school or a courthouse somewhere getting entangled in the web between church and state. Recently in Utah, a Jewish high school girl objected to the inclusion of Christian songs in her school's choral performance. Syndicated columnist Mona Charen soiled the page opposite a few weeks back with her suggestion that the aggrieved choir member could go sit in study hall if she didn't like it or do as Ms. Charen, a Jew, used to do: lip-sync offending passages so as not to upset God or her choir director.

CHICAGO -- It was Chicago's original "bean" - at least, according to a competitor. For five years it rode atop the passenger car market, the last domestically designed sedan to do so. The Ford Taurus was so popular that it took two plants to produce the cars, one in Chicago and the other in Georgia. Today marks the end of production for the Taurus, for which annual sales once topped 400,000. The last Taurus will roll off the assembly line in Atlanta, and sales this year will total fewer than 150,000.

Flowers and candy might cut it the rest of the year, but not this week -- no way. Valentines frown on generic gift-giving. Time to pull all the stops, show some flair, really wow 'em. You've got three days left, lovebirds. Better get a move on it, especially if you're Internet shopping. Every day counts when trying to avoid those overnight shipping fees. Here are a few ideas to get you going: Love powder Avoid mincing words. Let her know how you feel in a compact way -- literally. Three face-powder compacts by Terry are stamped with sentiments ("I t You," "Kiss" and "Love")

A bag of jelly beans and a distinctive chocolate lollipop led to the arrest of two men and a juvenile late Monday in Westminster. They were accused of stealing the candy and other items from a vehicle parked in the Middle Brook development at the south end of town. The items were reported stolen about 10: 50 p.m. A witness told police that three youths entered the car, then left in a light-colored Chevrolet Cavalier. Some of the items were found along the road, including a purse and cosmetics.

THE ELTON JOHN of Castle Street remembers his Polish grandmother saving nickels to buy him $4.50 accordion lessons when he was in grade school. The kid was a natural, so good that Uncle Joe would tie the boy and his squeeze box to a kitchen chair to keep the music going. Thirty years later, the polka prodigy plays a half-dozen instruments, writes music the way other people jot down a grocery list, and is looking for the Bernie Taupin of Baltimore to put words to his music. All while working the counter at the A&A Candy & Tobacco Co. on South Broadway to support his young family and make ends meet.

"I really enjoyed 'The Jellybean Principal' by Catherine McMorrow. It is about three kids named Jim, Ellen and Judy and a principal who has a big bowl of jelly beans on his desk. In the story someone was stuck in the freezer and Jim, Ellen and Judy have to get him out. Who was in the freezer?"- Derek CooperLeith Walk Elementary"I like the book 'Meet Addy: An American Girl,' by Connie Porter because I learned a lot about the period of time when slavery was legal. Addy is afraid of getting separated from her family.

In the fickle world of fashion retailing, Joel Rosenberg found, it can be tough trying to predict the next hot trend in, say, women's shirts.Not so with jelly beans.Rosenberg, who made the switch from apparel to candy sales a decade ago, has been able to pretty much bank on consumers buying the same chewy caramels and chocolate truffles they bought last year.Now the president of Candy Express Franchising Inc. is hoping America's penchant for sweets, bulk-food style, will transcend cultures, too. The franchise company has license holders in 20 nations opening dozens of Candy Express stores.

Trace it back to the first Easter Bunny in the mall. That's when it started to spiral out of control. Suddenly, small children had an option as to what to expect for Easter.It used to be so easy. March arrived and Mom would hit the stores in search of the perfect Easter outfit -- a dress with a crinoline, a short polyester coat called a "topper" and a new pair of genuine leatherette shoes. (At our house the shoes were never white unless it was one of those years when Easter came after Memorial Day.)

Flowers and candy might cut it the rest of the year, but not this week -- no way. Valentines frown on generic gift-giving. Time to pull all the stops, show some flair, really wow 'em. You've got three days left, lovebirds. Better get a move on it, especially if you're Internet shopping. Every day counts when trying to avoid those overnight shipping fees. Here are a few ideas to get you going: Love powder Avoid mincing words. Let her know how you feel in a compact way -- literally. Three face-powder compacts by Terry are stamped with sentiments ("I t You," "Kiss" and "Love")

MORE THAN fruitcake or the Pound Puppies' barking Christmas carol, what I most hope we are spared this season is warring over how we celebrate our festivities in public settings.It is the rare winter solstice that passes without a tale of a school or a courthouse somewhere getting entangled in the web between church and state. Recently in Utah, a Jewish high school girl objected to the inclusion of Christian songs in her school's choral performance. Syndicated columnist Mona Charen soiled the page opposite a few weeks back with her suggestion that the aggrieved choir member could go sit in study hall if she didn't like it or do as Ms. Charen, a Jew, used to do: lip-sync offending passages so as not to upset God or her choir director.

Sampling creamy, crunchy, luscious chocolates is all in a day's work for Bel Air business owners Patricia and Melinda Mosser.The sisters, partners in a new candy shop on Main Street called Nanna's Chocolates, taste test truffles, jellies, fruit creams, nut clusters and chewy caramels made by local chocolatiers before choosing the sweets that will fill their own cases."